explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:2712: Gravity

2022-12-16T23:10:38Z

108.162.216.77: Found some more things

Whatever image is supposed to be in the center isn't showing up for me! D: Tried on both Safari and Chrome but it gives me the little broken picture icon. Hopefully it's fixed soon! (The comic's been up for about 10 minutes going by when the bot updated this page.) [[Special:Contributions/172.70.126.117|172.70.126.117]] 22:28, 16 December 2022 (UTC)

: The center image is trying to load this link, but there's nothing there: https://xkcd.com/tile/ship1/ship_gliding_2x.png. I hope that gets fixed soon. The "ship" seems to rotate a bit unpredictably over time. At first I thought it was responding to my mouse movements, but I don't think so anymore. [[User:Orion205|Orion205]] ([[User talk:Orion205|talk]]) 22:34, 16 December 2022 (UTC)

: Ah, the center image is controlled by the javascript, of course: https://xkcd.com/2712/comic.js. So this is some sort of interactive comic? [[User:Orion205|Orion205]] ([[User talk:Orion205|talk]]) 22:36, 16 December 2022 (UTC)

: Okay, left/right arrow keys seem to control the rotation. I'll check back in later in hopes of seeing the ship so I have some idea what the point of it all is. [[User:Orion205|Orion205]] ([[User talk:Orion205|talk]]) 22:39, 16 December 2022 (UTC)

: And now it's working. You fly a little spaceship around the little planet. Luckily you have shields if you slam into the ground too hard. [[User:Orion205|Orion205]] ([[User talk:Orion205|talk]]) 22:43, 16 December 2022 (UTC)

: Catch the cannonball for a spaceship upgrade. Also, not so easy to find a stable orbit around this little planet. [[User:Orion205|Orion205]] ([[User talk:Orion205|talk]]) 22:49, 16 December 2022 (UTC)

You can transform the ship into a different (seems faster to me) one by running into the last cannon ball.
[[Special:Contributions/108.162.241.249|108.162.241.249]]

: Rough summary: The comic is an interactive space flight game, starting landed on an origin planet. The planet is static, and the player starts in a ship controlled by WASD or Directional keys. The ship can go up and down, and rotate left and right. Game simulates orbits and gravity, making navigation tricky. Around the player ship there are dots which indicate nearby planets - there are numurous planets, each with what seem to be drawings related to the What If book. Within the browser, planets are loaded in PNG format by chunk, names formatted as "planet_0_0" with numbers incrementing as grid co-ordinates. Planets and objects found: "origin" "europa", "road", "b612". NOTE: Several hazards exist, such as a field of black holes - if flown into, the ship can become stuck if let to be pulled close to the surface, locking in place.

:: In addition to Europa, the space road, and B-612, there is the "Edge of the Universe" (complete with Milliways restaurant nearby), a... tree (which is extremely hard to land on), a planet populated by the characters from Dinosaur Comics (and the main cast of Jurassic Park), the USS Enterprice (NCC 1701-C), and likely quite a bit more. Orbital mechanics make it tough to land on the smaller targets. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.254.46|172.71.254.46]] 23:07, 16 December 2022 (UTC)

::I went out a long ways away, and eventually found The Great Attractor. It attracts really hard. I couldn't leave the surface. (I wasn't able to leave the center of Europa either, though, so, not saying much.) There are also some terrifying black holes (a binary system?), though something's weird about their gravity; you kinda bounce off of them a quarter screen away or so? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.77|108.162.216.77]] 23:10, 16 December 2022 (UTC)

2706: Bendy

2022-12-03T21:32:20Z

108.162.216.77: Undo revision 300265 by 172.71.150.168 (talk)

{{comic
| number = 2706
| date = December 2, 2022
| title = Bendy
| image = bendy_2x.png
| imagesize = 291x209px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Squaring the circle is really easy with some good clamps.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created while BENDING OVER PULLBACKWARDS - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

Geometry usually represents 2D polygons with simple straight lines. In the comic, the lines are compared to a physical object, and are shown to have the property of bendiness. Randall claims this simplifies geometry as now triangles can have arbitrarily defined side lengths by merely stretching the lines, but it is unclear what benefits this may have over current Euclidean geometry. These lines cannot have Euclidean properties, but other non-Euclidean systems have been invented in the past with non-standard properties.<ref>{{w|Non-Euclidean_geometry}}</ref>

This comic may be a reference to axis breaks in graphs, which shrink large segments and enhance readability and are denoted by a wiggly line on the axis in question.

The title-text talks about "{{w|Squaring the circle}}", a famous geometry problem based around constructing a square with the same area as a given circle with a compass and straightedge, which was proven to be impossible (even with more powerful forms of construction, such as marked straightedges or origami) in 1882 as pi is a transcendental number (Not to be confused with {{w|Tarski's circle-squaring problem|circle-squaring}}.) However, it then goes on to describe a way to literally turn one of these bendy shapes from a circle into a square, namely using clamps.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[There are two right triangles. One triangle has side lengths of 3, 4, and 5, and is scribbled out in red. The other triangle has the same general shape but with the catheti appearing like longer but bent lines, so that all the side lengths equal 5 if straightened.]

:[Caption below the panel:]
:Huge geometry breakthrough: Turns out those lines we make triangles out of are bendy!

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Math]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]

2532: Censored Vaccine Card

2021-10-23T14:04:56Z

108.162.216.77:

{{comic
| number = 2532
| date = October 22, 2021
| title = Censored Vaccine Card
| image = censored_vaccine_card.png
| titletext = CVS's pharmacies are fine, but I much prefer their [censored]s.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a B[censored]T. Would be nice to have explanations of what each censored part likely says. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This comic is loosely related to a series of comics related to the 2020 pandemic of the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, which causes COVID-19.

The comic hinges on the sharing of vaccination card photos on social media as proof that the user has been {{w|COVID-19 vaccine|vaccinated against COVID-19}} (in this case, gotten a {{w|Booster dose|booster shot}}, a third dose of the vaccine). When the first U.S. recipients had their vaccine, a large number shared photos of the CDC vaccination card; it was enough of a trend that the {{w|Federal Trade Commission|FTC}} released an official statement warning vaccine recipients [https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/blog/2021/02/social-media-no-place-covid-19-vaccination-cards not to share photos] due to the cards containing {{w|Personal data|personal identification}} that should probably not be made public.

The irony here is that [[Randall]] has {{w|Sanitization (classified information)|"censored"}} some impersonal lines, such as the instructions that are identical on all vaccination cards, and many easy-to-guess lines, while not censoring any of said personal information.
The fourth line, labelled "other" is probably completely blank (as the third dose was on the day immediately prior to the publication one), but is completely blacked out.

The caption indicates that his intention is to "seem more mysterious". This is best exemplified by blanking most of the word "clinician" to leave the acronym "{{w|Central Intelligence Agency|CIA}}", referring to a US government agency known for its frequently "mysterious" (classified) activity, as well as its liberal use of redaction like that in the comic.

This is the first comic including a sentence in Spanish.

Randall's patient number is the 2nd to 9th digits of the fractional part of the decimal expansion of {{w|pi}} inclusively: 41592653

The lot numbers of the first and second doses allude to two numbers that appear frequently in Star Wars and other works related to George Lucas: 1138, and 2187.

The date of birth on the card corresponds to the date of birth given in an earlier version of his English wikipedia article (other languages still do). It is unclear if the author plays into a false rumor or has used his actual birthday.

{{w|CVS Pharmacy}} is a pharmacy chain in the US which provides COVID-19 vaccinations.

The title text comments on the "Provider or clinic site" of the second dose on the card. Where the word "pharmacy" appears in the previous row (and would be on a real card), it is censored in the comic. The most reasonable assumption is that the word is still "pharmacy" and that Randall has simply chosen to redact that instance for some reason, but the title text humorously implies that it was in fact some ''other'' CVS-related venture where he got his second dose, for instance a "CVS Parking lot" or perhaps an {{w|anti-submarine warfare carrier}}.

CVS's parent company, {{w|CVS Health}}, does have other enterprises with compatible names: {{w|CVS Caremark}} and {{w|CVS Health#CVS Specialty|CVS Specialty}}. However, neither of these provide COVID-19 vaccinations.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[Profile picture with squiggles lines on its left.]
:Check it out, I just got my booster!

:[Picture of the U.S. COVID-19 Vaccination Record Card attached on a media post. The card includes pre-printed information in black and handwritten information in blue, the latter indicated here by italics. Some of the text has been blacked out, indicated here by "[Censored]".]

:COVID-[Censored] Vaccination record card
:[At the upper right of the card appears the logo of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, a stylized eagle surrounded by the words "Department of Health & Human Services USA", although those words are not legible in this drawing. Next to that appears the logo of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a shaded box with the letters "CDC" and the words "Centers for Disease Control and [Censored]" below it.]

:Please keep this record card, which includes [Censored]
:about [Censored]
:Por favor, guarde esta tarjeta de registro, que incluve [Censored]
:[Censored] sobre [Censored]

:''Munroe'' ''Randall''
----
:Last Name First Name

:''10-17-[Censored]84'' ''41592653''
----
:Date of birth Patient number

:{|
| Vaccine || Manufacturer lot number || Date || Provider or clinic site
|-
| 1st Dose COVID-[Censored] || ''Pfizer ER1138'' || ''04''/''01''/''21'' MM DD YY || ''CVS Pharmacy Clinician #5309''
|-
| 2nd Dose COVID-[Censored] || ''Pfizer ES2187'' || ''04''/''22''/''21'' MM DD YY || ''CVS'' [Censored] [Censored]
|-
| Other || ''3rd dose [Censored] FH1729'' || ''10''/''21''/''21'' MM DD YY || [Censored] [Censored] [Censored]''CIA''[Censored]
|-
| Other || [Censored] || [Censored]/[Censored]/[Censored] MM DD YY || [Censored]
|}

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:COVID-19]]
[[Category:COVID-19 vaccine]]
[[Category: Comics with color]]

Talk:1721: Business Idea

2016-08-26T21:45:32Z

108.162.216.77: Adding similar reference from 'Click and Drag'

Fixed as of 11:35 UTC, the old comic is now named "'''My''' Business Idea" [[Special:Contributions/162.158.203.141|162.158.203.141]] 11:32, 17 August 2016 (UTC)
:Same person, just want to note the forum is a little behind. It was 11:35 according to Google, and the timestamp on the signature said 11:32. Posting this at 11:39 [[Special:Contributions/162.158.203.141|162.158.203.141]] 11:36, 17 August 2016 (UTC)
::ExplainXKCD is still showing the image for 827. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.52.62|173.245.52.62]] 14:02, 17 August 2016 (UTC)
:::As far as I can tell, everything's been fixed now. I removed the warning in the incomplete tag. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.218.107|108.162.218.107]] 15:07, 17 August 2016 (UTC)

I'm pretty sure there's been a naming overlap or something because https://xkcd.com/827/ and http://xkcd.com/1721/ are showing the same image
[[Special:Contributions/108.162.250.157|108.162.250.157]] 04:13, 17 August 2016 (UTC)

;Randall done goofed

He accidentally named TWO comics "Business Idea". This one and comic 827 (https://xkcd.com/827/). Because his comics are stored by name, not id, he has two "business_idea.png"s. The newer replaced the older one, but explain-xkcd has the original, probably due to the way either one is stored.

What should we do? Contact Randall? {{unsigned ip|108.162.219.10}}
:I'm honestly surprised Randall would make a mistake like this. Like shouldn't he have a list and a script that automatically checks wether a title was already used? --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.133.66|162.158.133.66]] 09:25, 17 August 2016 (UTC)
::Or simply append/prepend the comic number to the image name, that way you can't have duplicates. {{unsigned ip|141.101.98.90}}
:Check the fora. Let him know he broke 827(http://i.imgur.com/0LTTpmJ.png) if he doesn't know already. I'm too lazy. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.110|108.162.245.110]] 04:35, 17 August 2016 (UTC)
:Store it on the wiki as a jpeg and differentiate that way. --[[Special:Contributions/173.245.48.89|173.245.48.89]] 04:59, 17 August 2016 (UTC)

The older comic has now been renamed as "My Business Idea", and is back up again. [[User:Zorlax the Mighty|Zorlax the Mighty'); DROP TABLE users;--]] ([[User talk:Zorlax the Mighty|talk]]) 11:34, 17 August 2016 (UTC)

Great. I tried to fix the issue by renaming the old comic (both page and file), but it now has the old version cached and shows it on both comics' pages... --[[User:SlashMe|SlashMe]] ([[User talk:SlashMe|talk]]) 14:05, 17 August 2016 (UTC)

;Explanation for us users from countries with different fueling systems
In Germany and many other countries, the gas pumps actually have a separate hose per fuel type, so many fans of xkcd might not be able to understand this comic. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.83.162|162.158.83.162]] 05:18, 17 August 2016 (UTC)
: Yes, because many of us use Diesel, and you should not mix diesel and petrol. But it's no problem to mix small quantities of regular into premium or vice versa. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.86.161|162.158.86.161]] 09:06, 17 August 2016 (UTC)
:: Not just diesel and petrol - every kind of fuel sold (usually 4 per pump - petrol/diesel x premium/regular, sometimes fast diesel pump for trucks instead of diesel premium) has a separate hose and pistol in Poland. You choose the fuel by choosing the pistol. I'm guessing it's the same in a large part of Europe at least. It didn't even occur to me that it could be done differently. I honestly thought it was part of the joke - that Cueball doesn't even know that. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.86.119|162.158.86.119]] 10:07, 17 August 2016 (UTC)
::: I'm really surprised, too. How DOES a system work where the customer can presumably switch between the kinds of gas he fills in his tank? And where is such a system installed? The States, I suppose, but where else? For international readers, this should definitely be part of the explanation. Is there a convenient weblink that shows the differences between countries' gas stations, or a weblink that shows this unique setup that Randall takes for granted here? --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.83.72|162.158.83.72]] 10:50, 17 August 2016 (UTC)
:::: American here. There's a button for each type of gas. You have to hit a button before you start fueling and then that's the kind that comes out. I'm surprised that other countries use multiple-hose systems. It sounds inefficient. Diesel is still separate here, though. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.246.123|108.162.246.123]] 23:56, 17 August 2016 (UTC)
::::: It might be inefficient but at least you get what you pay for. ;) [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 08:08, 18 August 2016 (UTC)
:::::: The point of Elektrizitätswerk is the most important in Germany. We have very strict laws concerning precision of amount/quality of sale.
[[Special:Contributions/162.158.85.69|162.158.85.69]] 09:59, 18 August 2016 (UTC)
::::::: Here is a photo from France: [[File:http://i.imgur.com/xIFbRAMm.jpg|thumb|right|alt=French petrol pump]]. I'm surprised it's not like that in the country that gave us warnings on plastic bags and paper cups :-) [[Special:Contributions/108.162.229.121|108.162.229.121]] 13:27, 18 August 2016 (UTC)
::::: We use both in the US. Some gas stations have one hose with multiple buttons to select the grade of fuel, other gas stations do have a separate hose for each fuel grade.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.33|162.158.74.33]] 14:19, 18 August 2016 (UTC)

;Beret Guy?
Is this Cueball, or Beret Guy with his hat off? [[User:Mikemk|Mikemk]] ([[User talk:Mikemk|talk]]) 08:22, 17 August 2016 (UTC)
: Unlikely. Wasn't Beret Guy's hat stapled? --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.86.119|162.158.86.119]] 10:07, 17 August 2016 (UTC)
: If it was Beret Guy he most likely would have had (inexplicable) success with this idea. [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 10:13, 17 August 2016 (UTC)

;"Pay it forward" at Starbucks

This is actually about Starbucks, where customers - depending on the place, of course, as I've never seen it in Switzerland - are asked to pay some bucks for the next customer. You are expected to pay something "forward".

This idea originates from Italy, where you can buy a "caffè sospeso", a "suspended café". Somebody in need can walk up to the bar tender and ask for a free coffee. And yes, it disgusts me that this good idea was taken over by hipsters.--[[Special:Contributions/162.158.150.228|162.158.150.228]] 11:20, 17 August 2016 (UTC)

:I think you may be seeing something that is not in the comic. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.246.119|108.162.246.119]] 13:53, 17 August 2016 (UTC)

:I know what you're talking about, and it usually happens with one spontaneous and kind person starting a chain reaction, not corporate encouragement. This would both go against your statement and the comic itself (as they both suggest the company intervening). {{unsigned|Papayaman1000}}

;Fuel mixture quality

Knowing about the oil industry myself and how oil is transported... different qualities of oil are separated by having different densities, however, some mixture where the two products are touching is unavoidable.

This is relevant because the non-premium gas actually has a certain amount of premium mixed in, and that's why the octane rating is a minimum.

In other words, oil companies already account for the mixing of qualities. {{unsigned ip|108.162.220.221}}

In Europe there are premium versions of the same octane-number (95 Normal 95 Premium 98 Normal 98 Extreme). So that wouldn't work. Also if you buy the premium version you are an idiot. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.114.222|162.158.114.222]] 10:48, 19 August 2016 (UTC)
:Your "In Europe" statement is not entirely true. I can't recall seeing such thing. In Germany for instance, we have "Normal" (91), "Super E10" (95 with 10% bio-ethanol), "Super" (95), "Super Plus" (98) and on bigger companies such as Shell or ARAL there are some 100 (V-Power/V-Power Racing/Ultimate 100) or even 102 (Ultimate 102) octane gasolines. "Normal" isn't sold anymore at most places, while E10 is - as far as I know - mandatory by law. Arguably you could say that some companies do sell "premium" while others sell "normal", though, but there is no "normal 95" and "premium 95" at the same station. [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 06:52, 22 August 2016 (UTC)

The upper-left side of http://xkcd.com/1110/ "Click and Drag" has a similar theme where someone is standing on a rooftop party and saying "I'm working at a small startup. Our business model is taking free drinks from industry events and reselling them." (Scroll to the left and follow the building upwards.)[[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.77|108.162.216.77]] 21:45, 26 August 2016 (UTC)

Talk:1688: Map Age Guide

2016-06-01T16:11:52Z

108.162.216.77:

Well, I have no clue how to upload the image, it just displays the title text.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.91|108.162.216.91]] 12:47, 1 June 2016 (UTC)
:Done. Guess the bot failed because there is a larger one when you click the image on xkcd? --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:08, 1 June 2016 (UTC)
::The BOT didn't fail. The was an 404 error, the picture wasn't available at the first time. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 14:03, 1 June 2016 (UTC)
I feel like the title seriously lacks the word "political", there's all sorts of nice things with dating non-modern world maps. -- [[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.104|141.101.104.104]] 13:34, 1 June 2016 (UTC)

It doesn't just cover political maps -- there is a section on telling when you are with physical maps via the presence or absence of bodies of water. In fact, there are four or five main branches: fictional maps, topographical maps, not a map, and political maps (which have two branches, based on the naming of Istanbul (was Constantinople) [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.174|108.162.237.174]] 13:42, 1 June 2016 (UTC)

I like how that this flow chart also describes what I've drawn[[Special:Contributions/162.158.26.220|162.158.26.220]] 14:05, 1 June 2016 (UTC)

The 1992-1996 range (top right corner) could be narrowed down further with the independence of Eritrea 1993. Am I getting something wrong or did Randall actually overlook this? :-) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.85.141|162.158.85.141]] 14:49, 1 June 2016 (UTC)

----
Noone else has started work on this and I'm bored so... (feel free to reorder and/or add more detail where appropriate)
Relevant Events

'''Is there a big lake in Southern California? (Created by Mistake)'''
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salton_Sea Salton Sea] A previously dry lakebed accidentally flooded in 1905 while attempting to increase irrigation to the area from the Colorado River

'''How far East do the American Prairies reach?'''
The Northwest Territory was incorporated in pieces ~1820s, there may be something more relavent to draw the line at Indiana though.
:We are talking about physical/stellite maps at this point of the chart. Incorporation is not relevant. This is about the movement or size change of the American prairies. Haven't found anything relevant on that, though. -- [[Special:Contributions/162.158.85.183|162.158.85.183]] 16:05, 1 June 2016 (UTC)

'''Is there a big lake in the middle of Ghana? (Created on Purpose)'''
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Volta Lake Volta]

'''The US's southern border looks'''
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gadsden_Purchase Gadsden Purchase]

'''"Buda" and "Pest" or "Budapest"''' [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Budapest#Etymology Buda and Pest] were originally two different cities

'''Does Russia Border the Sea of Japan?''' Russia currently borders the sea of Japan so the 1867 upper limit is because of Tokyo not existing higher in the chain. The 1858 limit is to do with the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Aigun Treaty of Aigun]

'''Rhodesia?''' The dates down the chain suggest this is about [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhodesia_(region) Rhodesia the Region] not [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhodesia Rhodesia the Unrecognized state] nor [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Rhodesia Southern Rhodesia] the British Colony

----

Should the relevant links above be added directly to the transcript, or to a separate section? --[[Special:Contributions/172.68.29.127|172.68.29.127]] 14:29, 1 June 2016 (UTC)

----

Istanbul is not the capital of Turkey! (It's Ankara) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.86.131|162.158.86.131]] 14:41, 1 June 2016 (UTC)
----

Maybe a better way of organizing this is chronologically, i.e., show the state of the world each year.

That being said, is every year accounted for? For example, 1857 appears to be missing.

----
From the left and roughly in chronological order (only partial, might add more later):

'The Holy Roman Empire?'
1806 - Dissolution of the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holy_Roman_Empire Holy Roman Empire] by Emperor Francis II

'Do Any of These Exist?'

1867 - British North America act passed, marking Canadian independence

- Alaskan Purchase by US from Russian Empire

- Meiji Restoration (in 1869, Emperor Meiji moves to Edo, which is renamed Tokyo)

'Texas is...'

independent - 1836? 35? 34? Texas Revolution

'Florida is part of...'

The US: 1818 - US basically controls East Florida after [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seminole_Wars#Jackson_invades_Florida First Seminole War] (Spain officially cedes the territory in the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adams%E2%80%93On%C3%ADs_Treaty Adams–Onís Treaty of 1819].

'Venezuela and or Ecuador?'

1830 - Both Venezuela and Ecuador become independent as the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gran_Colombia Republic of Gran Colombia] dissolves in late 1830, early 1831.

'Does Russia border the Sea of Japan?'
1858 - China cedes territory to Russia under the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Aigun Treaty of Aigun], bordering the Sea of Japan (sort of? There's also the Treaty of Beijing)

'South Africa?'
1910 - the Union of South Africa created, thanks to the South Africa Act 1909 enacted by British parliament

'Is Bolivia landlocked?'
1884 - [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Valparaiso Treaty of Valparaiso] signed ceding Bolivian territory to to Chile, leaving Bolivia landlocked (see also [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_of_the_Pacific War of the Pacific]

'Buda and Pest or Budapest?'
1873 - Buda and [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pest,_Hungary Pest] merge to become Budapest

'Is Norway part of Sweden?'
1905 - [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dissolution_of_the_union_between_Norway_and_Sweden Sweden-Norway dissolved], Norway becomes an independent monarchy

'Rhodesia?'
Rhodesia was named [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Company_rule_in_Rhodesia under the British South Africa Company in 1895]

'Austria-Hungary?'
1918 - Austria-Hungary officially separates into Austria and Hungary

'Albania?'
1912 - [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albanian_Declaration_of_Independence Albania declares independence] from the Ottoman Empire

'Leningrad?'
1924 - Petrograd ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Petersburg Saint Petersburg]) changes its name to Leningrad

[[Special:Contributions/108.162.250.156|108.162.250.156]]

You know there are times where I suspect he's just making some of his comics intentionally hard to explain or very ambiguous just to watch us do somersaults trying to describe them and make it clear, not necessarily for this comic but definitely with some of them it just seems that way. I don't know if he does or not, or how much he even pays attention to this wiki, just a thought. Of course maybe he does just because we're prime nerd sniping material. [[User:Lackadaisical|Lackadaisical]] ([[User talk:Lackadaisical|talk]]) 16:00, 1 June 2016 (UTC)

----
I'm pretty sure 'is it larger than a breadbox' is a reference to 20 questions. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.77|108.162.216.77]] 16:11, 1 June 2016 (UTC)

1587: Food Rule

2015-10-07T04:47:23Z

108.162.216.77: Fix typo in shrimp

{{comic
| number = 1587
| date = October 7, 2015
| title = Food Rule
| image = food_rule.png
| titletext = I won't eat invertebrates, because I can fight a skeleton, but I have no idea what kind of spooky warrior a squid leaves behind.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a BOT - Please change this comment when editing this page.}}

Randall has listed foods he does and does not eat. Randall is apparently unsure of whether oysters, squid, or shrimp, have faces, and refuses to eat them simply because it doesn't have a face. He refuses to eat foods he has to Google whether or not a particular food has a face or not. Shrimp and Squid sort of have faces, although it depends whether or not you consider a face to be your typical mammalian/avian/reptilian face, or if a face simply has to be composed of "eyes and a mouth somewhere." Oysters most definitely do not have anything resembling a face, but Randall's confusion of whether a squid and shrimp has a face or not leads him to not eat such.

The title text mentions how Randall prefers to not eat invertibrates, since he knows he can fight back a skeleton, but he is unprepared to fight whatever ghoulish fighter an invertebrate might leave behind. Randall is joking about how his food's remnants might come back to life and try to avenge their death. Perhaps the only "realistic" way to do this is terrible gastrointestinal problems.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript}}
:'''My food rule:'''
:{| class="wikitable" style="border: 0px;"
|-
| style="border: 0px; text-align: right" | Red meat
| style="border: 0px; color:green;" | ✅
|-
| style="border: 0px; text-align: right" | Pork
| style="border: 0px; color:green;" | ✅
|-
| style="border: 0px; text-align: right" | Poultry
| style="border: 0px; color:green;" | ✅
|-
| style="border: 0px; text-align: right" | Fish
| style="border: 0px; color:green;" | ✅
|-
| style="border: 0px; text-align: right" | Shrimp
| style="border: 0px; color:red;" | ❌
|-
| style="border: 0px; text-align: right" | Oysters
| style="border: 0px; color:red;" | ❌
|-
| style="border: 0px; text-align: right" | Squid
| style="border: 0px; color:red;" | ❌
|-
| style="border: 0px; text-align: right" | Fruit
| style="border: 0px; color:green;" | ✅
|-
| style="border: 0px; text-align: right" | Vegetables
| style="border: 0px; color:green;" | ✅
|-
| style="border: 0px; text-align: right" | Grains
| style="border: 0px; color:green;" | ✅
|}
:I won't eat something if I have to Google to figure out whether or not it has a face.

{{comic discussion}}

Talk:1574: Trouble for Science

2015-09-23T06:52:37Z

108.162.216.77:

Sentence case, or down style, is one method, preferred by many print and online publications and recommended by the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association. The only two rules are the two rules mentioned above: Capitalize the first word and all proper nouns. Everything else is in lowercase. http://www.dailywritingtips.com/rules-for-capitalization-in-titles/ [[Special:Contributions/173.245.50.154|173.245.50.154]] 12:30, 7 September 2015 (UTC)

;Problems with the p-value as an indicator of significance

The p-value alone can never be an indicator of significance. However, it is still often used as the only indicator, because a full set of parameters (including sample size, test setup, etc.) can't easily be packed into a single number. There's a nice article in nature about this problem: [http://www.nature.com/news/scientific-method-statistical-errors-1.14700]
I can also recommend [http://io9.com/i-fooled-millions-into-thinking-chocolate-helps-weight-1707251800this story] about (ab-)using hacked p-values to get maximum publicity. I hope this helps :-) --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.105.183|141.101.105.183]] 12:41, 7 September 2015 (UTC)
:In this section, I really want to reword the p-valye explanation that "one can assume that the event observed 'exists'." Except where it's an event indirectly observed through a chained effect (unseeable gas molecules observed through brownian motion, unstable particles through detection of their decay particles, prehistoric meteorite impact through a geological/chemical fingerprint, etc) I think it should be more that "this (directly observed) event was directly linked to the presumed cause rather than spontaneous and random, at least w.r.t. the presumed cause being tested". But writing it better than I did just now. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.114|141.101.99.114]] 19:36, 7 September 2015 (UTC)

I think the joke is that these newspapers are talking about how bad science is, and yet they manage to come up with a stupid story about Bunsen burners, presumably being too scientifically illiterate to know the problem. [[User:Timband|Timband]] ([[User talk:Timband|talk]]) 12:55, 7 September 2015 (UTC) Although reading the other comments, it's a much better joke if the Bunsen Burner story is actually true, because that makes all of them about journalists not realising that they are highlighting their own ignorance. [[User:Timband|Timband]] ([[User talk:Timband|talk]]) 16:05, 7 September 2015 (UTC)

See [[Significant]] for another comic on p-values.--[[User:Henke37|Henke37]] ([[User talk:Henke37|talk]]) 14:22, 7 September 2015 (UTC)

One journal, Basic and Applied Social Psychology (vol. 37 pages 1–2, 2015), went so far as to ban p-values entirely. So, anti-p-value sentiment does seem to be on the rise. --[[User:Scjphysicist|scjphysicist]] ([[User talk:Scjphysicist|talk]]) 01:10, 12 September 2015 (UTC)

;Controlled trials show Bunsen burners make things colder

Actually, I can easily imagine a way to use a Bunsen burner to make something colder. Involving an unlit Bunsen burner that has been placed in the freezer for a couple hours, for example. Nowhere in the headline is there any mention of a flame. --[[User:Svenman|Svenman]] ([[User talk:Svenman|talk]]) 12:59, 7 September 2015 (UTC)

:Actually, there was a (badly formatted and badly placed, probably therefore now removed) comment on the explanation page earlier which pointed out that feeding a Bunsen burner from a propane bottle will cause the pressure, and therefore the temperature, in the bottle to decrease. That is a lot less contrived than my original idea. --[[User:Svenman|Svenman]] ([[User talk:Svenman|talk]]) 13:37, 7 September 2015 (UTC)

::That was me. Trying to get my 2 cents in on my phone before I forgot. http://www.propane101.com/propaneregulatorfreezing.htm as an example. [[User:Mattiep|Mattiep]] ([[User talk:Mattiep|talk]]) 13:45, 7 September 2015 (UTC)

:Correct me if i'm wrong here, but doesn't burning flame from a Bunsen burner cause the temperatures of the flame and the target object to equalize? Sure in most cases that results in a temperature increase in the target object, but I don't see why that would be true in all high temperature cases. The comment about "reducing the rate of heat loss in 2000K+ temp objects" would only be true if the gas (assuming any atmosphere at all) surrounding the target object was cooler than the flame from the bunsen burner. This gets worse in a perfect vacuum. If a 5000K object was in a perfect vacuum and somebody set a lit bunsen burner (assuming the tip had an Oxygen source) to spray across the target object, then the Flame would get hotter as it touched the hotter object and the object would cool as the two temperatures attempted to equalize. No reduction of heat loss would happen. Can we remove the comment about "reducing the rate of heat loss in 2000K+ temp objects" ? [[User:Harodotus|Harodotus]] ([[User talk:Harodotus|talk]]) 22:20, 7 September 2015 (UTC).

::Found an article backing up my previous comment and lacking any objection for several hours, reveresed the note in the article.[http://www.reddit.com/r/askscience/comments/2xr7dc/can_you_cool_an_object_hotter_than_fire_with_fire/] [[User:Harodotus|Harodotus]] ([[User talk:Harodotus|talk]]) 23:58, 7 September 2015 (UTC)

:Bunsen burners hasten the heat death of the universe, making things colder generally. Showing that in "controlled trials" seems like a challenge for a type 2 civilization, though. [[Special:Contributions/198.41.241.73|198.41.241.73]] 08:30, 8 September 2015 (UTC)

I think the joke is in the wording of the headlines. The fact that a replication study fails to reproduce can be seen as a contradiction. Overfeeding rodents leads to fat rodents. This compromises their ability to function als animal (runway) models. I haven't figured out the other ones yet. But that's çause I'm dumb :-). Alva. {{unsigned ip|141.101.104.80}}

:It's way simpler than that - The joke is that people outside of sciences (with no understanding really of how to science) will report basically anything that sounds shocking or exciting, especially if it proves those nerdy, scary scientists wrong! So Randall gives us a bunch of possibly headlines that to a layman read like real, scary news about science, but to scientists this is stuff that is generally well known and understood. The last one is just taking it a step further for credulous news editors - They've been lying to us all this time! 13:33, 7 September 2015 (UTC)
::I think it's even simpler than that: the title is "Trouble for Science" and it shows a series of misleading headlines about misleading (i.e.: invalidated) scientific studies. The implication is "Trouble for Journalism".[[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.87|173.245.54.87]] 14:21, 7 September 2015 (UTC)

:I agree. All of the titles are poorly written. All immunoassays are antibody-based, so saying many commercial antibody-based immunoassays are unreliable is redundant, implying they have no idea what an immunoassay is. Problems with the p-value as an indicator of significance implies that there is some significant error in the use of a tool to measure significance of error, which leads one to wonder how they figured that out. If you don't know what a p-test is, the title is paradoxical. The last title would make someone assume that the controlled trials are using turned on bunsen burners to make things colder, but could mean almost anything, such as a bunsen burner being turned off the entire time, or a bunsen burner placed inside of a freezer, or even that people consider using bunsen burners in an experiment makes the experiment cool (or sweet or groovy or whatever). {{unsigned ip|173.245.56.155}}

::I would appreciate someone adding info about what an immunoassay is. [[User:Teleksterling|Teleksterling]] ([[User talk:Teleksterling|talk]]) 22:53, 8 September 2015 (UTC)

I generally agree, but would say if you DO know what a p-test is, the title is paradoxical. If you don't know what a p-test is, the title is meaningless. [[User:Miamiclay|Miamiclay]] ([[User talk:Miamiclay|talk]]) 07:05, 8 September 2015 (UTC)

This comic may be in reference to Monsanto's latest ailments. {{unsigned ip|173.245.52.112}}

;Replication study fails to reproduce many published results
:Upon reading that specific headline, the rational behavior would be to question the veracity of all the other headlines before and after. I could see a paper picking up on that sensationalist-looking headline and ignoring the fact it casts doubt on whatever else they published. [[User:Ralfoide|Ralfoide]] ([[User talk:Ralfoide|talk]]) 14:56, 8 September 2015 (UTC)

Maybe I'm missing something obvious, but what is the irony in the first headline? [[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]] ([[User talk:Djbrasier|talk]]) 00:54, 9 September 2015 (UTC)

From [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phase_(matter)]: "When a substance undergoes a phase transition (changes from one state of matter to another) it usually either takes up or releases energy. For example, when water evaporates, the kinetic energy expended as the evaporating molecules escape the attractive forces of the liquid is reflected in a decrease in temperature. The amount of energy required to induce the transition is more than the amount required to heat the water from room temperature to just short of boiling temperature, which is why evaporation is useful for cooling. " That could explain the Bunsen burner making things colder (i.e. having less kinetic energy)

About gaussian irregularities. Using a computer and floating point numbers, someone would see irregularities on a gaussian distribution. That amounts to sampling the curve with a small but finite precision. Computing the value a any given point could lead to rounding errors and would be seen as irregularities. {{unsigned ip|108.162.219.118}}
:That's like saying a crack in your telescope glass has revealed new stars.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.229.134|108.162.229.134]] 23:20, 11 September 2015 (UTC)

Gregory Chaitin makes a case for using experimentally observed mathematical relations to increase the expressiveness of mathematics beyond the limits of purely deductive axiomatic methods. If this trend is adopted, it might conceivably develop that a set of foundations that support what would then be known as the "normal distribution" could have significant irregularities which would result in either adoption of this new effect, or changing the foundational proposition from which the effect is derived, or both. Randall's headline may be predictive of the type of thing that may be seen as more mathematicians explore conjectures aided by computer computations using numeric and symbolic congruences.
[[http://www.linkedin.com/in/Comet Comet]] 20:51, 9 September 2015 (UTC)

I think everyone is over-thinking this comic. In each headline, the question is "Well if that's the case, how did they prove it?" In other words, every test would have most likely made use of the technique that they studied in the study.

Anti-bodies-I don't know anything about this topic, so I can't explain the irony that I hypothesize to be there.

P-values-Presumably the researchers started with the null hypothesis that p-values are a good indicator of significance. They then disproved it with p<0.05.

Lab rats-They proved that animal studies are compromised. They undoubtedly used animals to conduct this experiment

Replication study-They couldn't replicate the results. To show that this is a robust phenomenon, other researchers should be able to replicate their results.

Bunsen burners-In their controlled experiment, they found that bunsen burners cool things down. But since bunsen burners are the heat-source of choice for many scientific investigations, they were probably the control heat source as well as the test.

Gaussian curve-The bell curve has irregularities in it. Assuming that these irregularities are independent, their effect is modelled by a Gaussian curve (ie the average irregularity in the faulty Gaussian curve will form a Gaussian distribution per the central limit theorem)

In each case, the joke is that the study results discredit the method that would have been used to prove the result.
CAS [[Special:Contributions/173.245.55.149|173.245.55.149]] 23:37, 11 September 2015 (UTC)

There's another interpretation. All of these articles are headlines in newspapers. Reporters will only bother to write and publish news articles about highly controversial or exciting results, framed in the most inflammatory way, regardless of their reliability or applicability. So we have carnival barkers in the news media cherry-picking and misrepresenting results they really don't understand.

But most scientists are also dependent on having a steady stream of published, novel results so they can get their grant money from the government. Which means "sexy" results that are publishable and impactful- i.e. worthy of mention in the non-scientific press. So ''of course'' we have sloppy methods and irreproduceable results-- those are the methods most likely to produce the kind of excitingly counter-intuitive results that get published and catch the notice of the mainstream media. Disciplined labs that publish properly vetted results will hit dry periods when their results are unexciting or their theories don't check out, and their grant money will dry up, and they will fall apart. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.171|108.162.237.171]] 14:34, 15 September 2015 (UTC)

I think the bunsen burner part might be a reference to a demonstration a teacher once did. I can't find the reference, but when her students came in she showed them a metal plate next to a lit bunsen burner. The students observed that the side closest to the flame was colder, and she asked them to write down what they thought was going on. They wrote non-answers like, "because of heat conduction," and none of them came anywhere close to guessing the correct answer, which was simply that the teacher turned the metal plate around just before they came in. [[User:Shanek|Shanek]] ([[User talk:Shanek|talk]]) 16:46, 15 September 2015 (UTC)

I figured that this comic was mostly making a joke about how often newspapers describe things as "Trouble for Science!"... when most of the things being reported are merely niggles in one narrow area of one scientific field. Whereas this is a list of things which actually *would be* "trouble for science" in that that they would invalidate huge areas of scientific "knowledge". A few of them are real, most are not.
[[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.77|108.162.216.77]] 06:52, 23 September 2015 (UTC)

Talk:1030: Keyed

2015-03-18T17:05:26Z

108.162.216.77:

Is is just me, or does that explanation make Carrie Underwood sound like one crazy b*tch? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.223|108.162.219.223]] 01:21, 22 January 2014 (UTC)
:''All'' man-basher songs make women seem like crazy bitches. --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.114|108.162.245.114]] 03:19, 27 February 2014 (UTC)

Could this comic explain why Ponytail was at Beret Guy's place of "Business"?[[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.77|108.162.216.77]] 17:05, 18 March 2015 (UTC)

Talk:1389: Surface Area

2015-02-25T04:29:11Z

108.162.216.77:

FYI to whoever writes this: the Seattle reference is the Space Needle. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.65|108.162.221.65]] 05:03, 2 July 2014 (UTC)

Uranus is larger than all of these combined. Of course, it isn't on this map because it is full of gas. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.62.62|173.245.62.62]] 05:50, 2 July 2014 (UTC)
: Just wondering... Does that mean, a spaceship could just fly trough Uranus? (No pun intended.) --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.75.20|141.101.75.20]] 07:16, 2 July 2014 (UTC)
::It'd probably hurt. As an ice-giant, the interior of Uranus is mainly composed of ices and rock. Jupiter and Saturn have cores of liquid metallic hydrogen. Also, the rock/ice isn't considered the surface of Uranus, because most of the planet's mass lies outside the solid inner layers.) [[Special:Contributions/103.22.201.239|103.22.201.239]] 09:28, 2 July 2014 (UTC) P.S. Even if it was only gas, a spaceship would probably find it hard to handle the temperature and pressure at the center of Uranus.
:::As the gas giants contain a solid core, why is it the surface of those cores not included in the drawing? Just like Earth, Mars and Venus, they are still just solid with a (very thick) atmosphere. [[User:GadgetViking|GadgetViking]] ([[User talk:GadgetViking|talk]]) 23:55, 2 July 2014 (UTC)
::::Because it is a core and not a surface. On Earth, for example, most of the planet's total mass lies below solid ground, which can be considered the surface of the planet. In gas giants, most of the planet's mass is gas and lies outside the solid layers. How can it be the surface of the planet when it doesn't include most of the planet's mass within it? Suggested reading:[http://www.universetoday.com/22719/surface-of-jupiter/][[Special:Contributions/103.22.201.239|103.22.201.239]] 11:03, 3 July 2014 (UTC)
:If the spaceship has not braked enough down it would burn up in the atmosphere. If it has it would get stuck in the core of the planet, where it would eventually get crushed, as the pressure would be brutal way before reaching any rock or metallic hydrogen. Although I did like the first comment :-p [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 21:00, 2 July 2014 (UTC)

And of course the earth is not correctly displayed: we have water which - in most cases - is not solid. -- jesterchen [[Special:Contributions/141.101.75.19|141.101.75.19]] 07:23, 2 July 2014 (UTC)
: Water still has surface area. Edit: oh, I see what you mean now, from the title in the comic. I guess you have a point, but it's mainly there for comparison so it's not necessarily a mistake. --[[User:NeatNit|NeatNit]] ([[User talk:NeatNit|talk]]) 06:14, 2 July 2014 (UTC)
:: Under the water there is solid bottom --[[User:JakubNarebski|JakubNarebski]] ([[User talk:JakubNarebski|talk]]) 07:01, 2 July 2014 (UTC)
Anyone else notice the alliteration in the title? It doesn't really matter but I like it.
::: But then it is not "surface" anymore... but you two have a point. I focused mainly on the title, not the image text... So forget my comment :) -- jesterchen [[Special:Contributions/141.101.75.19|141.101.75.19]] 09:12, 2 July 2014 (UTC)
:::: Water indeed has a surface, while gas doesn't. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.47|141.101.104.47]] 11:13, 2 July 2014 (UTC)Martin
:See the current explain - just remove the water from earth, and the earth's surface area would still be almost as big. It is only 3-4 km (on both sides) out of 12,000 km in the diameter. There are also fluids on some of the rocky moons (Ice and then water beneath on Europe, Methane lakes on Titan etc.)[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 21:00, 2 July 2014 (UTC)

There is also small section named "''All human skin''" (between Earth and Titan)... if you think about thread and needle... ugh... --[[User:JakubNarebski|JakubNarebski]] ([[User talk:JakubNarebski|talk]]) 07:01, 2 July 2014 (UTC)
:This is exactly the same as seen from the planets perspective. [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 21:00, 2 July 2014 (UTC)

This seems to be an island floating on something, maybe it's floating on the sun's plasma? --[[User:BelgianAtheist|BelgianAtheist]] ([[User talk:BelgianAtheist|talk]]) 08:24, 2 July 2014 (UTC)
:Or a supercontinent with an ocean around (so not floating). As the whole thing is just 3-4 times larger than earth, it would not need a very big planet to support it - a surface area 9 times as big as the earth would be plenty of big enough to contain the entire map (including all the ocean in the square). So the radius would only need to be like 3 times as big as the Earth's. No need to use the Sun for this... ;-) [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 21:00, 2 July 2014 (UTC)

So, what's the area surrounding Earth's landmass? It's not named, or am I blind? [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.218|141.101.99.218]] 09:46, 2 July 2014 (UTC)
:It is the rest of the Earth - that part which is covered by the Ocean [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 21:00, 2 July 2014 (UTC)

Don't think it is strictly accurate to say that earth is included 'for scale' -- surely it is included because it qualifies to be on the map. Otherwise it's a bit like saying that Belgium is included in maps of Europe 'for scale' (as 'the size of Belgium' is a well-known unit of land area as in 'Amazonian rainforest the size of Belgium is cut down every week') -- Devonian Earache
: The size of Belium is also famous for its reference in the Doctor Who mini-episode "Time Crash" (see http://www.chakoteya.net/doctorwho/CIN2007.htm) {{unsigned|Esp666}}
:Agree completely with the earth not included for scale. Although maybe the continents are - as there is no features on the other well known surfaces like the moon. [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:13, 3 July 2014 (UTC)

The map of Earth doesn't look like the Waterman Butterfly projection. If it did, the continents would be angled in toward each other, and Australia would be up in the corner. The only thing that is even similar is that Antarctica is shown in "normal" proportions rather than stretched across the bottom. [[User:Prometheusmmiv|Prometheusmmiv]] ([[User talk:Prometheusmmiv|talk]]) 11:41, 2 July 2014 (UTC)
:But the map projection reference is very relevant as it is indeed as the Waterman keeping the relative sizes of the continents. And Randall is very in to this obvious from the comic. Thus included again [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 21:00, 2 July 2014 (UTC)

What's the area on the coast between Asteroids (1km+) and Triton? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.222.50|108.162.222.50]] 11:44, 2 July 2014 (UTC)
:Good question. Did he forget it or...? It is way to big to be his own asteroid Asteroid 4942 Munroe ;) And much smaller even than Vesta [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 21:00, 2 July 2014 (UTC)
::I believe I have solved the puzzle - it must be the second largest moon of Neptune (next to the only other very large Neptune moon) and it fits with the size. See explain. [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:13, 3 July 2014 (UTC)

(My first contribution here!) About the Earth/water surface issue, I think Randall is talking about planets' surface, and then it counts both earth and water (like if it were a sphere) [[Special:Contributions/173.245.52.173|173.245.52.173]] 12:31, 2 July 2014 (UTC)

I changed the explanation of the title text. The previous explanation, "all the matter in the solar system converted to a string" cannot be correct. First, he said "first we'll need a gigantic spool of thread". The title text obviously refers back to the title itself, about "stitching" the solar system's solid surfaces together. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.79|108.162.221.79]] 13:17, 2 July 2014 (UTC)

Regarding the table, perhaps it would be better to make a separate "Surface area relative to Earth" column? Or may be just a numeric order according to size? The scientific notation of areas does not sort by ascending/descending order very well. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.62.62|173.245.62.62]] 14:09, 2 July 2014 (UTC)
Also, the average adult skin is around 1.73 square meters. For a newborn, it is 0.25.[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_surface_area]. Very roughly estimating 1 sq. meter as the mean BSA, we get 7 billion sq. meters, or 7000 sq. km of human skin. That would be slightly larger than the area of either Palestine or Delaware.{{unsigned ip|173.245.62.62}}
:The first has been done - the second has been included in explain.[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:13, 3 July 2014 (UTC)

Should there not be a pixel (or perhaps a slightly grey pixel) for Asteroid 4942 Monroe - area of about 1-3×102 Km2?? [[User:Esp666|Esp666]] ([[User talk:Esp666|talk]]) 16:34, 2 July 2014 (UTC)
:It would be included in the asteroids larger than 1 km as it is about 6-10 km [http://blog.xkcd.com/2013/09/30/asteroid-4942-munroe/ according to Randall]. [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 21:00, 2 July 2014 (UTC)

;Sedna and Quaoar

Why are Sedna and Quaoar not included? I mean, Sedna is so fantastically far away that I can sort of understand not including it. But Quaoar is only 10% further from the sun than Pluto or Haumea, and it's actualy closer than Makemake! [[Special:Contributions/108.162.238.165|108.162.238.165]] 13:33, 2 July 2014 (UTC)
:Probably because we do not yet know if they have a stable surface. They would thus be included in the Various or asteroids sections. [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 21:00, 2 July 2014 (UTC)
::This has now been explained in details - as the why is due to the fact that they have yet to be proven to be rounded by their own gravitational pull... [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:13, 3 July 2014 (UTC)

;Sorting
The numerical column needs to be rewritten (preferably as two columns) in order for sorting to be useful. - [[User:Frankie|Frankie]] ([[User talk:Frankie|talk]]) 14:27, 2 July 2014 (UTC)
:Done [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:13, 3 July 2014 (UTC)
----

Well the "blank" spot around the earth continents is obviously all the other "solid" stuff we know earth is made up of, the continents are all above sea level are displayed as we see them from space - the rest of the "blank" area is solid mass under the ocean we don't see from up above but know is there through the sciences! {{unsigned ip|173.245.52.181}}
: Perhaps this is the Earth's surface after all the bodies of water vanish? http://what-if.xkcd.com/103/
:[[User:Wwoods|Wwoods]] ([[User talk:Wwoods|talk]]) 21:07, 2 July 2014 (UTC)
:: The water is a so insignificant layer on top of the earths surface (crust) so as not to be included. The continents are just drawn for the scale. [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:07, 3 July 2014 (UTC)

----

;Hannibal Lecter

I think that should be Buffalo Bill. Hannibal ate his victims, Bill sewed their skins into "clothing". --[[Special:Contributions/173.245.52.153|173.245.52.153]] 01:41, 3 July 2014 (UTC)
:Corrected, thanks [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:07, 3 July 2014 (UTC)
----

;Coastline paradox

Doesn't this thing suffer from the {{w|Coastline paradox}}? If that paradox applies to suface areas of 3D objects, then the surface areas of planets and other objects would be infinite or very large. Even if that is not the case, I don't think the 4*pi*r formula would work properly. [[User:Theme|Theme]] ([[User talk:Theme|talk]]) 09:40, 3 July 2014 (UTC)
:The difficulty would lie in stretching every mountain and basin into a completely flat surface, which Randall has ignored--You'd need a space iron[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clothes_iron] to do that, besides the space needle. Even the map of our continents would be rather different if the folded surface of every geographic relief was accounted for. Also, that is why very small objects (including tiny asteroids and dust) have been ignored. [[Special:Contributions/103.22.201.239|103.22.201.239]] 11:17, 3 July 2014 (UTC)
::If you do as suggested in the explain - skin the planets (ie. for the earth cut of the crust above the mantle) then you would probably be able to flex this around a lot, even before mountains moved much (earth quakes fur sure, but not something that would alter the shape of the continents on the scale of this map). On a scale of the crust (which can be 70 km wide under continents) the mountains are generally not very high. If you leave the highest parts in the middle of the "skin" as in the earth area, then they would not need to be hammered out, for two surfaces to be stitched at the edges. In the end the map is maybe just shown for reference. How the continents looked afterwards is not important to Randall (as for Buffalo Bill in Silence of the Lambs and the original women). The surface area is stretched and cut up in order for them to fit each other. [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:07, 3 July 2014 (UTC)
:On the scale of this map, there would be no coastline paradox. This only occurs of you wish to go into details. You just overlap the edges of each surface and sew them together. If there are a few million square meters lost here and there is is of no consequence, except for at the human skin area - but this can probably be stretched quite a bit to make it fit ;) [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:07, 3 July 2014 (UTC)

;Checking the size of the areas

I have been trying to check if Randall has drawn the areas in the correct relative size (to Earth). For instance I could find that the area of The Moon fit more than 13 but less than 14 times on top of the area of Earth (as it should do 13.5 - see new column in the table with these numbers.)
Similarly I have checked that there are room for just a little more than 6 Titans on Earth, and that Earth is slightly larger than the Venus area. Also Mars have been checked against earth.
It do not have to be checked against earth. For instance if Titan checks out, this can be used to check other object. In this way I have use Titan to see if the area of the moons of Jupiter and Mercury fits. Ganymede, Titan, Mercury and Callisto come in that order. And the other three fit well with Titan, as do Europa. However, I find that Io is not only half the size of Titan (as it should be, but it can be rather difficult to measure.) It would be cool if someone could check on the other areas.

So far I have checked (to my satisfaction) that the following fits with the area of Earth:
#Venus
#Mars
#Ganymede
#Titan
#Mercury
#Callisto
#The Moon
#Europa
And only found that I'm uncertain with
#Io
[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 22:10, 3 July 2014 (UTC)

Talk:1454: Done

2014-12-27T22:30:06Z

108.162.216.77:

To be honest, I have never really heard anyone say a phrase like that or other phrases with similar implications, it would be nice if someone could show real-world examples where the phrases are used [[Special:Contributions/103.22.201.168|103.22.201.168]] 10:29, 2 December 2014 (UTC)
:I have never seen this either. I can see it being a meme, but a rhetorical device?! I think that's a stretch. [[User:Smperron|Smperron]] ([[User talk:Smperron|talk]]) 15:45, 2 December 2014 (UTC)
:: I may have used the wrong term, what Ieant was like when someone gives up on something, others may say that "they said they were done" when they actually didn't say anything... I could be wildly off base though. [[User:Official.xian|Official.xian]] ([[User talk:Official.xian|talk]]) 05:28, 3 December 2014 (UTC)

How do we know the girl is in the United States?? [[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.177|141.101.104.177]] 08:54, 1 December 2014 (UTC)

Is it a girl? I was thinking the hair is a bit like mick Jaggers... - Palitu {{unsigned ip|108.162.249.223}}

: The country is not spoken to in the comic and therefore should be left out, regardless of where people think it is placed. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.209|108.162.216.209]] 22:25, 2 December 2014 (UTC)

: I think it's a girl, and I think she's in the United States, as xkcd is a US-based comic, and pony-tail is a recurring figure also presumably in the United States. And I think it's all rather sad. Note that she's kneeling on her chair, not sitting - this is more common for girls than guys. My take is that she's the kind of person who can enter into a fantasy relationship with a person she doesn't really know, and then if/when they do ever meet in real life it will all break down because her fantasy is only that, and the real person will not match her expectations at all. --[[User:RenniePet|RenniePet]] ([[User talk:RenniePet|talk]]) 09:37, 1 December 2014 (UTC)

:: I look at that she was incredibly lucky - it's a classic internet relationship scam. Maybe I'm just a cynic. There's also the phrase [http://www.macmillandictionary.com/dictionary/british/do-over "Done Over"], although I think it's a British idiom, so I highly doubt it was meant as a double entendre. [[User:Oobayly|Oobayly]] ([[User talk:Oobayly|talk]])

::: Yeah, note that she's going to be saving up money for six months, thus that'll likely be a sizeable sum. And the person that she "connected" with is a half a world away, always a bad sign as no real evidence of identity is truly possible at that distance, and as an internet user, likely in the us, half a world away may well be a country where the reimbursed cost of a plane ticket is worth the work of fabricating & upkeeping a fake idealized relationship in order to get the eventual reward of that money. The cynic in me gives this a 50% chance that this is a classic scam. - Kzqai {{unsigned ip|108.162.216.27}}
: So, do you extend that logic to assume that every "cueball" character must be "a girl" because you were "thinking the hair is a bit like [Sinéad O'Connor]s"? I'm curious... -- [[User:Brettpeirce|Brettpeirce]] ([[User talk:Brettpeirce|talk]]) 10:29, 2 December 2014 (UTC)

:: Why is the sex relevant, although I believe it is a girl by hair and posture (comics use stereotypes to convey information with a few details. I do not think it changes the meaning of the comic. If it the gender is debated remove it. Although I do think that it is clear that the character is female. The emphases here on gender seems quite reveling. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.209|108.162.216.209]] 22:25, 2 December 2014 (UTC)

Consider this as a possible reference to Kim Kardashian's photo.. An effect of her trying to "break the internet" -KLee {{unsigned ip|173.245.54.212}}

'''Identity of the writer?'''
:If the writer is based on a reoccurring character than it has to be either Megan or Danish. Is there a consensus as to who it is?[[Special:Contributions/173.245.56.163|173.245.56.163]]

:: Isn't she Caroline, or 'curly buns'. Similar curly haired girl has appeared in similar roles on several pages but it seems her age isn't entirely set and instead fluctuates according to the call of a particular strip. {{unsigned ip|108.162.230.155}}

I don't think that anyone literally said "shut it down", I believe it was a rhetoric, at least that's how I read it. [[User:Official.xian|Official.xian]] ([[User talk:Official.xian|talk]]) 11:47, 1 December 2014 (UTC)

Oh yes. Forget that the economy would go to hell without Internet. Forget how much science is done using Internet. The real reason for Internet to exist is so you can get in love with someone on different continent. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 12:44, 1 December 2014 (UTC)
:I'm not so sure... it would seem it was primarily funny cat videos, the funniest possible of which was obviously posted, viewed, and judged as the final necessary use of the internet. It was thus agreed to shut it down, as there is really no need to continue with this charade variously coined as "commerce", "science", or other superfluous forms of so-called "communication" (that is the garbled blathering that is not funny cat pictures or videos), all depending of course on your preferred (but nonetheless obviously deluded) persuasion. This comic only serves to prove it. I am left wondering, though... how did Ponytail come to learn this? SMS? Phone Tree? -- [[User:Brettpeirce|Brettpeirce]] ([[User talk:Brettpeirce|talk]]) 13:55, 1 December 2014 (UTC)
::Is there perhaps a meme going around where instead of "lol" you write "internetover" to say "this is so good/funny, i can now die happy" and the comic author was annoyed with that and made this where the start situation is silly and the end is even sillier? --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.254.163|108.162.254.163]] 14:10, 1 December 2014 (UTC)
:::that seems to be an almost angrily rhetorical question, supposing that I'm making a serious statement rather than a very very sarcastic one, so... you must be... new... here? Perhaps I didn't lay it on thick enough? -- [[User:Brettpeirce|Brettpeirce]] ([[User talk:Brettpeirce|talk]]) 10:23, 2 December 2014 (UTC)
This could be far more than a romantic involvement. She says she thought she was asking too much. But then she found... a like-minded individual, someone who can... notice the 'glitches in the matrix', as it were. Much more might have been lost here than a believed love. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.169|173.245.54.169]] 14:13, 1 December 2014 (UTC)

It could mean the girl is in love or wants to adopt a child from a country like Iran, but before she can tell, the internet THERE is shut down by the government
(which happens all the time because of some youtube video or something). [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.114|108.162.237.114]] 14:18, 1 December 2014 (UTC)

:She is speaking with a romantic interest. One doesn't "settle" to adopt a child. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.52.125|173.245.52.125]] 18:20, 10 December 2014 (UTC)

: Or the writer may be in a country like Russia, China, or Turkey, where the internet is widely used but under constant threat of political censorship.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.129|108.162.216.129]] 14:54, 1 December 2014 (UTC)

So I am the only one who thought the girl was either the author of spam, or had a feasible contact whom she could fool into travelling to her country with promises of money, only to put them in the trap of being stuck there reliant on her? You hear the story all the time, someone is given hope, but as they arrive the passport is taken and to receive food+lodging (or in some cases they are locked inside a room) they are forced to perform dubious services with questionable morality 108.162.216.27and legality. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.254.145|108.162.254.145]] 15:02, 1 December 2014 (UTC)Feha {{unsigned ip|127.0.0.1|12:34, 5 June 2012 (UTC)}}

Yeah, I still don't get the title comment either. The author of this Facebook comment was responding to a video, and I see no evidence that this girl has been posting videos. So is it just coincidence that [Megan is saying that] the author also believes the girl is done? [[User:Nealmcb|Nealmcb]] ([[User talk:Nealmcb|talk]]) 16:19, 1 December 2014 (UTC)
: No one is saying that the writer broke the internet or made the video, just that the video is the best thing the internet could ever produce, so everone is done with the internet. {{unsigned ip|108.162.216.209}}

You guys are all missing the point (except for the "die happy" commenter). Sometimes, when watching such an impressive video, people say something along the lines of "the internet is over" to mean "that video was so impressive that no one will ever top it. We might as well shut down the internet." This comic takes that expression literally, and shuts down the internet in the middle of someone's important conversation. [[User:Diszy|Diszy]] ([[User talk:Diszy|talk]]) 18:08, 1 December 2014 (UTC)
:Seconded... -- [[User:Notso|Notso]] ([[User talk:Notso|talk]]) 11:07, 3 December 2014 (UTC)

Does anybody else think this might be the same girl from 508: Drapes? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.242.18|108.162.242.18]] 18:33, 1 December 2014 (UTC)

At first I thought it was a romance kinda thing, but it would also be an appropriate/situation in case of adoption. Maybe she found her reason to live in an orphan across the globe (I presume in a poor country). That she will be able to fly him/her here in six months she will be able to support the kid. This is also supposing that all paperwork will be finished in 6 months (which I think it's quite fast for adoption, but then again, we don't know how long they have been communicating for). {{unsigned ip|108.162.215.102}}

As the argument over the sex of the subject of this comic rages on (hyperbole), I remembered that when I checked xkcd.com on Lynx, there were transcripts of every comic. I looked again and it seems that it does not do this for new comics. Does anyone know who writes those transcripts? If, for example, next week the transcript on the official website refers to the character as a girl, could that be used as a source? [[User:Maplestrip|Maplestrip]] ([[User talk:Maplestrip|talk]]) 11:41, 2 December 2014 (UTC)

Given that the Internet shutdown was spontaneous, and alternate communication/news sources probably hadn't been set up yet to the degree needed, how does the second character know what happened? [[User:Z|Z]] ([[User talk:Z|talk]]) 16:05, 2 December 2014 (UTC)
: Everyone agreed to shut down ith internet. There would be a time delay from the time the comment was posted and people agreed to shut it down, during this time the majority of internet users would find out. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.209|108.162.216.209]] 22:25, 2 December 2014 (UTC)

Perhaps the idiom isn't well known everywhere, but there's the phrase "[http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=stick+a+fork+in+it Stick a fork in it, it's done!]" that usually applies to something that is finished (positive) or broken beyond hope (negative). [[User:Mr. I|Mr. I]] ([[User talk:Mr. I|talk]]) 13:53, 3 December 2014 (UTC)

I think the comments about "we're done" are off the mark. I took the situation to be an exasperated developer and maintainer of network resources saying "we created the internet to be an amazing tool for communication and development of high human endeavors, but it has degenerated into a trivial exercise in watching hokey clips about cute animals. That's it! We've had it! No more! Shut 'er down!" This ties in with #676 http://xkcd.com/676/ [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 12:25, 6 December 2014 (UTC)

:I agree completely. I have never heard the expression used to describe shut it down because the job is done but I have heard this wording used repeatedly in conversation when referring to something they were exasperated with. Also, this interpretation of the above seems more likely since it is a fairly common comment/joke, where as this would be the first time I would have heard someone joke that the purpose of the internet was to get ridiculous videos. If she had said a cat video, my perspective would, of course, be different.--[[Special:Contributions/199.27.133.41|199.27.133.41]] 02:40, 8 December 2014 (UTC)

This comic made me sad :( [[Special:Contributions/108.162.223.35|108.162.223.35]] 07:04, 9 December 2014 (UTC)

I think the description completely misses the point. The key phrase in the dialogue is "Why can't I connect?". She is referring to her Internet connection, but what she should be asking herself is why she can't connect with people. Apparently, there is no one close to her she can connect with so she needs to look halfway around the world. The comic is mocking curly hair and painting her in a pathetic light. I'm still struggling to figure out what "Done" means. Maybe it means we should turn off the Internet so we connect with the people around us instead of chatting with strangers we've never met half way around the world. The Facebook comment in the title text might be supporting this. Stop commenting on random things on the Internet and talk to the people around you. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.52.125|173.245.52.125]] 18:16, 10 December 2014 (UTC)

:And the irony is that I am making this comment to people half way around the world right now. :) [[Special:Contributions/173.245.52.125|173.245.52.125]] 18:41, 10 December 2014 (UTC)

I, personally, have often seen the "The internet is done, shut it down." comments on humorous or clever posts on tumblr; that interpretation is what I got out of the comic, as the description says. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.77|108.162.216.77]] 22:30, 27 December 2014 (UTC)

1393: Timeghost

2014-07-28T05:57:48Z

108.162.216.77:

{{comic
| number = 1393
| date = July 11, 2014
| title = Timeghost
| image = timeghost.png
| titletext = 'Hello, Ghostbusters?' 'ooOOoooo people born years after that movie came out are having a second chiiiild right now ooOoooOoo'
}}

==Explanation==
[[Megan]] has been haunted by a ''Timeghost'' for some time. It is obviously not the first time the ghost arrives to let Megan know that "...ooOOOOOOOOooo... Tiiiime is passiiiing!" The ghost is dedicated to making people feel old by having them think about the passage of time. It is shown to reference time periods related to well-known people and events, such as famous actors and the release of movies and TV shows. Megan is just annoyed that it is back and wishes it to go away.

But then when [[Cueball]] ask "How long has it been doing this?" the ghost suddenly predicts that Megan and Cueball will die in a shorter amount of time than the time that has passed since the ghost began its hauntings. This disturbs Megan who stops her complaining and asks "'''What!?'''" This is not the first time she has been haunted by the ghost but it has probably not been that long, so this is a very scary thought to her (and Cueball).

We do, however, not know how long the ghost has been haunting Megan. Also the "staaaaart of my haunting" may refer to the first time the ghost haunted anyone, not just Megan. This could be a looong time ago and thus be true for anyone it meets today. Or it could mean since the start of this particular manifestation, meaning their deaths are imminent! It is also possible Timeghost is being deliberately ambiguous in an effort to frighten them even more. This is of course only scary if you believe the ghost can predict the future, which is not what it has been doing so far. (There is no example in the comic where it makes a prediction that we know is accurate - only comparing time spans we can look up - see below).

But one thing about the prediction is true - they will eventually '''die'''. And this is the scary part about realizing how old you are and that you are quickly getting older: You will die soon.

The comic seems to be using "factoid" to mean a small fact. "{{w|Factoid}}" can also mean a "questionable or spurious statement presented as a fact", but this does not seem to be intended usage here. In this instance, some of the factoids are easily verifiable, while others are reasonable assumptions based on the number of years passed since the individual events. Several sources advocate the use of the word "factlet" to express a brief interesting fact, while using the word "factoid" for unverifiable or untrue statements passed as fact.

While ''factoids'' tend only to have mostly only entertainment value, the last ''fact'' from the ghost is a prediction of the future (Megan and Cueball's death) which is actually of some practical value if it can be trusted.

"Timeghost" might be a literal interpretation of {{w|Zeitgeist}}, which is a German term for "spirit of time" and refers to the school of thought that influences or dominates the art and culture of a time period. All the events and people mentioned in this comic may be considered influences on present day art and culture.

In the title text Megan calls {{w|Ghostbusters}} (from the 1984 movie) to help get rid of the Timeghost. This of course makes the ghost state that "people born years after that movie came out are having a second chiiiild right now" making her feel old once more.

[[Randall]] has covered making people feel old several times in [[647: Scary]], [[891: Movie Ages]] and [[973: MTV Generation]]. Also see the blag post [http://blog.xkcd.com/2012/09/29/odd-temporal-milestones/ Odd Temporal Milestones]. This is, however, so far the only one that makes a prediction of anyone's death.

A similar ghost with a much different agenda was seen in [[1108: Cautionary Ghost]].

'''Timeline'''
{| class="wikitable"
!Year||Event
|-
|1955-1975||{{w|Vietnam War}}
|-
|colspan="2"|19 years
|-
|1994||{{w|Forrest Gump (film)|Forrest Gump}}
|-
|colspan="2"|20 years
|-
|2014||Year of this comic
|-
|colspan="2"|
|-
|1964||{{w|Keanu Reeves}} (Actor) born
|-
|colspan="2"|2 years
|-
|1966||Today's new grandparents born (Average age: 48 in the US)
|-
|colspan="2"|48 years
|-
|2014||Year of this comic
|-
|colspan="2"|
|-
|1990||[http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nhsr/nhsr051.pdf Today's new parents born] (Average age: 24 in the US)
|-
|colspan="2"|3 years
|-
|1993-1994||{{w|The Simpsons}} Season 5
|-
|colspan="2"|2 years (from '93 to '95)
|-
|1994-1995||{{w|The Simpsons}} Season 6
|-
|colspan="2"|4 years
|-
|1999||{{w|Eminem}} (Rapper) got big (second album)
|-
|colspan="2"|15 years
|-
|2014||Year of this comic
|-
|colspan="2"|
|-
|1984||{{w|Ghostbusters}}
|-
|colspan="2"|3 years
|-
|1987||[http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nhsr/nhsr051.pdf Today's people just having a second child born] (Average age at first childbirth (24) + average gap between first two births (3))
|-
|colspan="2"|27 years
|-
|2014||Year of this comic
|}

==Transcript==
:[Cueball and Megan are approached by a floating ghost]
:Timeghost: ''...ooOOOOOOOOooo... Tiiiime is passiiiing!''
:Megan: Ugh. Timeghost.
:Cueball: Huh?
:Megan: Here come the factoids.

:[Timeghost floats around]
:Timeghost: ''Forrest Gump'' came out closer to the Vietnam War than to the present daaay.
:Megan: Go ''away!''
:Timeghost: The average new grand-parents are younger than Keanu Reeeeves!
:Cueball: That can't be right...

:[Megan clutches her head, possibly attempting to cover her ears]
:Timeghost: ''Today's new parents were ten when Eminem got big. Daaaaaad muuuuusic. They remember Simpsons season 5 or 6 at the '''earliest'''''.
:Megan: Argh!
:Cueball: How long has it been ''doing'' this?

:[Megan and Cueball looks up at the Timeghost as it delivers its most scary message]
:Timeghost: ''The staaaaart of my haunting is now further away than your deaaaths!''
:Megan: Will you sto- -'''''WHAT!?'''''
:Timeghost: ''ooOOOOOOOoo''
{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]

Talk:1305: Undocumented Feature

2014-05-30T06:49:08Z

108.162.216.77: discuss

:;Please never edit existing posts at the talk page! Just add your content! And NEVER edit foreign posts! Use the "Sign Button" on top of editor or type this at the END of your post <nowiki>~~~~</nowiki>. This will add the IP or User and a timestamp to the END of your post.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:53, 18 December 2013 (UTC)

This sound pretty cool... Anyone know if it's real or which tool it's in? [[Special:Contributions/173.245.55.222|173.245.55.222]] 05:53, 18 December 2013 (UTC)

* its real, there are 8 other users, but must stay a secret. {{unsigned ip|108.162.231.233}}

* There is no secret chat room, stop looking for it. It doesn't exist. Look for your own island on the interweb, don't come spoil ours. [[User:scr_admin|scr_admin]]

Okay, let's be honest: how many of us, upon seeing today's comic, immediately went here to see if it was real or not? --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.4|108.162.245.4]] 07:47, 18 December 2013 (UTC)

* I honestly did just that. --[[Special:Contributions/173.245.53.137|173.245.53.137]] 08:06, 18 December 2013 (UTC)

* I also just did that... [[Special:Contributions/108.162.231.206|108.162.231.206]] 08:07, 18 December 2013 (UTC)

* I didn't start up my VM to test it, but I came here to see if was real >.< [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.56|108.162.216.56]] 09:47, 18 December 2013 (UTC)

* I also did that. But I take that, if it is real and someone uncovers it, it may destroy that community... [[Special:Contributions/173.245.53.123|173.245.53.123]] 10:28, 18 December 2013 (UTC)

* Same here. If it is real, I sincerely hope Randall has a) wiresharked it to find out where this chat room resides so he can prod the admin if it ever goes down b) has a backup plan to migrate himself and his friends to some other private chat room. It won't have the same mystery surrounding it, but at least it's something. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.231.222|108.162.231.222]] 10:51, 18 December 2013 (UTC)

:;Please never edit existing posts at the talk page! Just add your content! And NEVER edit foreign posts! Use the "Sign Button" on top of editor or type this at the END of your post <nowiki>~~~~</nowiki>. This will add the IP or User and a timestamp to the END of your post.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:53, 18 December 2013 (UTC)

It's not about Youtube, but Facebook, which just launched AUTOPLAYING video ads. Look at the title text, it's about Facebook's real name policy. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.231.232|108.162.231.232]] 08:11, 18 December 2013 (UTC)

* I wouldn't limit the scope of this commentary just to Facebook; YouTube's been doing autoplaying video ads for years. YouTube's also been asking for real names recently. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.212.200|108.162.212.200]] 14:26, 18 December 2013 (UTC)

* The video ads thing is definitely related to Facebook, but the title text is probably a reference to Youtube recently asking continuously to switch to the real name of google plus account and not the nickname many used on YouTube. Edited the explanation accordingly, since there was no reference to the title text. Spesknight [[Special:Contributions/108.162.231.216|108.162.231.216]] 09:08, 19 December 2013 (UTC)

I just searched after reading - and found this site! -- {{unsigned ip|141.101.99.247}}

* The real secret place is here! {{unsigned ip|108.162.229.75}}

* So THIS is the secret chat [[Special:Contributions/108.162.229.7|108.162.229.7]] 09:50, 18 December 2013 (UTC)

* One day this place will be forgotten and so will we. --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.231.197|108.162.231.197]] 09:52, 18 December 2013 (UTC)

anyone else recognizes the wonderful tcp-ip explanation movie of Ericsson [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hymzoUpM0K0 Dawn of the net] in frames 6 till 10? [User:Tesshavon|Tesshavon]] ([[User talk:Tesshavon|talk]])

* Tesshavon you're in my mind ! Also, the 6th frame is comes from one of the most common Friends posters (see e.g. here : [http://www.infinitydish.com/tvblog/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Friends-friends-69087_1024_768.jpg Friends] ) [[User:dandraka|dandraka]]

It's true. Small online communities offer a more folksy experience than the online giants. Some of the best places to hang out are BBS's that made it onto the Internet and have been there for 25+ years. {{unsigned ip|216.150.130.111}}

Well there's always IRC... {{unsigned ip|108.162.221.30}}

:;Please never edit existing posts at the talk page! Just add your content! And NEVER edit foreign posts! Use the "Sign Button" on top of editor or type this at the END of your post <nowiki>~~~~</nowiki>. This will add the IP or User and a timestamp to the END of your post.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:53, 18 December 2013 (UTC)

I've rewritten all the explanation.
As far as I'm concerned, I'd remove the incomplete box.
I just keep it because it's likely that someone else will feel something is missing.
[[Special:Contributions/173.245.53.180|173.245.53.180]] 15:27, 18 December 2013 (UTC)

If you're interested in a tightknit community out on the fringes of the Net, go join a MUD. Some are combat oriented, some are roleplay and chat oriented, all are text-based, and many have largely the same exact userbase as they had twenty years ago. - [[Special:Contributions/108.162.212.228|108.162.212.228]] 15:48, 18 December 2013 (UTC)

* If you want a really small and odd community check out the Plato network, you have to emulate a terminal from the late 70's early 80's to use it. --[[User:DECtape|DECtape]] ([[User talk:DECtape|talk]]) 00:27, 15 April 2014 (UTC)

Hmm i think randall also wants to share his believs in the subcontext of the comic, the reason why we live on erth as a random error, the sysadmin who probably sees it all(=god), the question what will happen after all that is gone (his opinion, that our lives are compelty senseless)..etc. {{unsigned ip|108.162.254.161}}

* Anyone else think of comic 37 when reading the last panel (due to the ambiguity of whether he is talking about fucking "video ads" or "fucking video" ads)? [[Special:Contributions/173.245.50.227|173.245.50.227]] 18:31, 18 December 2013 (UTC)

Yes, of COURSE I came here to see if it really exists! I don't know if there's actually a chatroom as described, but Usenet has become much smaller, has no ads, and doesn't require you to know the secret application to get in. IIf a text experience with no ads appeals, dump FB, come back to Usenet! Tell 'em Sea Wasp sent you! :) [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.186|108.162.219.186]] 19:15, 18 December 2013 (UTC)

*Shhh! You're forgetting the first rule of Usenet! [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.6|173.245.54.6]] 17:57, 19 December 2013 (UTC)

:;Please never edit existing posts at the talk page! Just add your content! And NEVER edit foreign posts! Use the "Sign Button" on top of editor or type this at the END of your post <nowiki>~~~~</nowiki>. This will add the IP or User and a timestamp to the END of your post.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:53, 18 December 2013 (UTC)

It's obviously about life and religion. The sysadmin who never writes anything must be there to keep everything running, because else the chat would stop to exist. Like most religions contribute to a god who is never seen or heard. --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.231.232|108.162.231.232]] 08:03, 19 December 2013 (UTC)

I'm wondering if he got this idea from Starship Titanic. They had a very similar thing happen. [http://www.metafilter.com/98848/The-Post-That-Cannot-Possibly-Go-Wrong#3435156 See this epic MeFi comment from the self-described "main web hacker" behind Starship Titanic's web site.] [[Special:Contributions/199.27.128.119|199.27.128.119]] 17:29, 19 December 2013 (UTC)

I've made several edits to clean up the explanation. Not sure whether I should remove the incomplete tag or not. --[[Special:Contributions/173.245.52.227|173.245.52.227]] 17:57, 19 December 2013 (UTC)
:Please don't do that. A comic at this size isn't complete within one or two days. Removing the incomplete tag is a minor issue, explaining is the major one. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:46, 19 December 2013 (UTC)

I don't really see why the trivia should be there. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.45|108.162.216.45]] 20:29, 19 December 2013 (UTC)
:This content was moved from the explain section to a trivia section by me. It still needs some rework but it belongs to "old Windows utilities" like Randall is talking about here at the first panel.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:46, 19 December 2013 (UTC)

Reminds me of MUDs. I still check in on New Moon [http://eclipse.cs.pdx.edu/] a few times a year. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.236.25|108.162.236.25]] 16:15, 20 December 2013 (UTC)
:I see what you mean. For me it's the Discworld MUD. But it could similarly (i.e. not exactly like the comic suggests) apply to some long-term Usenet groups that I (in)frequent. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.229|141.101.99.229]] 16:22, 20 December 2013 (UTC)

It may not be the tool from the comic, but people here might be interested in: http://kurlander.net/DJ/Projects/ComicChat/resources.html {{unsigned|Jvfrmtn}}

If this chatroom was real I'd love to see it. I know ts not though. Of course what if there's a little fridge horror in this comic? Like a chatroom 98 sort of thing? Maybe the sysadmin or the people Cueball and the others are talking to are really ghosts or souls that were sucked into an old server forever doomed to spend their days talking to themselves until another unsuspecting user is sucked in.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.36|108.162.215.36]] 02:54, 23 December 2013 (UTC)

Ido: Can someone explain why the URL www.xkcd.com/test reference to this strip? looks like an undocumented feature to me :) {{unsigned ip|141.101.98.220}}

:It doesn't anymore… [[User:Varal7|Varal7]] ([[User talk:Varal7|talk]]) 19:03, 20 May 2014 (UTC)
::It now displays to [[1367: Installing]]. [[User:Z|Z]] ([[User talk:Z|talk]]) 01:11, 23 May 2014 (UTC)

I was doing some searching on the internet, and found, in addition to the one/few on this page, some people who said/implied that they have used this chat before, although, like anything on the internet, the claims may not be true. (Links: http://community.spiceworks.com/topic/436369-does-this-actually-exist [see comments 3, 12, and 14], http://pastebin.com/95nGh8Hk [Says it exists, but doesn't elaborate]) [[User:Z|Z]] ([[User talk:Z|talk]]) 22:02, 12 March 2014 (UTC)

I used to be part of something very similar to to what the comic describes (but not exactly the same). When AOL first started, it was a completely 'walled garden' with no access to the internet. Old folks will remember how popular brands used to advertise on TV that you should go to their 'AOL Keyword' instead of a web site URL. Check Wikipedia for more about this. Anyway, AOL had its own set of message boards, for many popular topics, which were not connected to the internet and could only be accessed by other AOL members. I was just a kid. I went exploring through a bunch of message boards about niche topics until I found one with a community that I came to like. We had all kinds of off-topic conversations, and, the moderators having long since gone, it came to resemble its original topical purpose very little. The ages were not kind to AOL, and our group grew smaller and smaller as the AOL service gained a connection to the real internet (including the WWW and Usenet) and not as many new people bothered to look at AOL-only message boards any more. Eventually, the Keyword that accessed our special board stopped working and it was dropped from the public directory that lists all the areas of AOL. But we found a workaround: AOL had its own quasi-URL system that was mostly only used internally in the software and not usually exposed directly through the UI. But, those of us who had directly bookmarked the message board could still access it that way, and we found a way to share the aol:// URL amongst ourselves. Just like in the comic, we couldn't figure out why the message board still worked at all, for many years after it was no longer publicly visible anywhere, and wondered if some sysadmins with a sense of humour at AOL were watching us. It was fun in a way, a secret place all to ourselves. But it was also kind of sad, when sometimes months would go where noone posted. The UI would sometimes get migrated to a newer version with no notice, and then rolled back again just as abruptly. Old messages would suddenly disappear, become resurrected and then disappear again. Eventually, the thing that finally killed it was that one by one, we each stopped paying for AOL as we found better ISPs and couldn’t justify the expense. It would have been easy enough to move to another web site or chat program, and at first, some of us tried to recreate it elsewhere, but it was never really the same, and we could never get the same group completely back together again. But I guess that's how life is anyway: people drift apart. Despite that, many of us still keep in touch and have become very close friends, some of us even in real life. It's good to have friends. xxj{{unsigned|Xxj}}
:TL;DR! Keep your comments short. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:57, 23 May 2014 (UTC)
::If you really didn't read that, Dgbrt, you missed out (what are you, from Twitter? everything has to be 160 characters or the ADD kicks in?). It was worth it, for an old internet hand/AOLer. That is too often how life is, xxj; thanks for posting it. I'm feeling a little overwhelmed by nostalgia for some old AOL and GameFaqs message boards, now... [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.77|108.162.219.77]] 03:17, 28 May 2014 (UTC)
:::This is a typical reaction to misuse my reaction. If you look at my contributions here you would know that I'm really NOT a TWITTER man. I don't like Twitter and AOL was always a big mess by it's time. But including some paragraphs, writing shorter sentences, and I wouldn't have posted my "TL;DR!" reply. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:30, 28 May 2014 (UTC)

The comic says it's an "old" Windows utility, but the UI in the picture can be from no older than Windows 95. Native Win95 software still runs on modern PCs without resorting to a VM, doesn't it? Did Randall forget how a window looked in Windows 3.1? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.77|108.162.216.77]] 06:49, 30 May 2014 (UTC)

Talk:1365: Inflation

2014-05-07T17:07:10Z

108.162.216.77: discussion re basketball design

Space Jam! - [[Special:Contributions/108.162.225.147|108.162.225.147]] 04:51, 7 May 2014 (UTC)
[[Special:Contributions/173.245.63.186|173.245.63.186]] 04:54, 7 May 2014 (UTC)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0117705/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_1
[[Special:Contributions/173.245.63.186|173.245.63.186]] 04:54, 7 May 2014 (UTC)

I got "basketball" and "Space Jam", but I didn't get why it said Spalding on it. From reading the explanation, I'm guessing it's a brand. Thanks, because I never would have made the connection. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.218|108.162.237.218]] 05:29, 7 May 2014 (UTC)

<strike>Why did Randall choose a basketball? A rugby ball or an american football would fit the shape better</strike> [[User:Condor70|Condor70]] ([[User talk:Condor70|talk]]) 06:12, 7 May 2014 (UTC)
:Because of the curving lines like a basketball on the image. [[User:Fizzle|Fizzle]] ([[User talk:Fizzle|talk]]) 06:17, 7 May 2014 (UTC)
::Added the reasoning for choosing a basketball to represent the universe [[User:Condor70|Condor70]] ([[User talk:Condor70|talk]]) 08:46, 7 May 2014 (UTC)
::I have never heard of the Basketball version - in DK I have mainly heard of it like a balloon. The link is to a book - could someone find a link to a short article where this analogy is used? Also I agree that if you do not know a basketballs lines you would never think of that from the image - as it much more looks like an American football due to the shape. Of course the Space Jam/Michael Jordan title text makes it clear that it is a basketball. [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:11, 7 May 2014 (UTC)
:::The only other reference I could find is [http://csep10.phys.utk.edu/astr162/lect/cosmology/inflation.html]. I remember the analogy from a Discovery Channel program.[[User:Condor70|Condor70]] ([[User talk:Condor70|talk]]) 15:31, 7 May 2014 (UTC)
:This is no basketball! The lines on a basketball are different. On a basketball every line intersects exactly 4 times with other lines.
::Looks like a basketball (example [http://tf3dm.com/imgd/l20568-official-nba-spalding-basketball-86751.jpeg]). Remember that the Mollweide projection distorts the lines.[[User:Condor70|Condor70]] ([[User talk:Condor70|talk]]) 15:31, 7 May 2014 (UTC)
:::Person two comments above is correct. Take either the east or west hemisphere (according to the orientation of the globe as presented in this comic) and then rotate it 90 degrees (on the globe, not on the silly eliptical projection) and ''then'' you have the basketball I grew up with. Has it changed in the last 20 years? Condor70's linked image doesn't show enough of the ball's surface to be conclusive on this point. Images on Wikipedia seem to indicate the rib/seam pattern may vary by ball manufacturer; the “official” NBA/Spalding ball image there doesn't show enough of the ball's surface either. — Vid the Kid [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.77|108.162.216.77]] 17:07, 7 May 2014 (UTC)

Should the image not be updated to the current one on XKCD? Then this image could be saved on XKCD and linked to from the explanation on the error. [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:09, 7 May 2014 (UTC)

What's a basketball? (explain like i'm five <duck>) [[User:Ralfoide|Ralfoide]] ([[User talk:Ralfoide|talk]]) 14:19, 7 May 2014 (UTC)

Megan is not looking at the "actual image captured by the BICEP2 instrument", because BICEP2 has only a 20 degree field of view (targed at the "Southern Hole") http://www.caltech.edu/content/building-bicep2-conversation-jamie-bock
:Correct. The image is from the WMAP.[[User:Condor70|Condor70]] ([[User talk:Condor70|talk]]) 15:32, 7 May 2014 (UTC)

When I look at the comic at xkcd.com, the bottom image is reversed and 'SPALDING' is backwards (and so thus hard to make out). Is this true for anyone else? --[[User:Dangerkeith3000|Dangerkeith3000]] ([[User talk:Dangerkeith3000|talk]]) 15:53, 7 May 2014 (UTC)
: Noted above, I think. Haven't checked out any explanation but I'm betting someone pointed out "but, it'd have to backwards, as viewed from inside", thus Randall reversed it. A pity, because you're right about it being not as readable. (I'm ''used'' to mirror-writing... but combined with the rest of the image noisiness (unflipped) the reversed version comes out more like "Spajjing" or even "Soajjing", to me, the right-way-round one not suffering from inconveniently-placed splodges ruining the effect.) [[Special:Contributions/141.101.89.211|141.101.89.211]] 16:43, 7 May 2014 (UTC)

"''The concept of an expanding universe is often explained by comparing it with a basketball''"
: "Often" ??? I get that a basketball is used in the comic, to allow for the Space Jam joke. But in all the explanations of an expanding universe I've ever seen, nobody has ever used a basketball. It's always been a balloon. Which makes a great deal more sense since a balloon, unlike a basketball, is something folks typically see actually expand. Claiming a basketball is "often" used seems forced here, an attempt to wedge in a unneeded justification for the Comcast's punchline. [[Special:Contributions/199.27.128.84|199.27.128.84]] 17:01, 7 May 2014 (UTC)